Chimpanzees become smart because genes
Mental abilities of chimpanzees are determined for the beginning of genes, learned the South American scientists. The influence of heredity on the intellect of man is investigated for a long time, but in monkeys this study is being conducted for the first time.
Paper presented in the journal Current Biology, and short of its content can be found in the press release of the Georgia Institute.
99 monkeys from age 9 to 54 years had passed 13 studies on intelligence, which tested a variety of skills (orientation in space, the use of tools, communication skills, and the consciousness of cause-effect relationships). The results of the tests were converted into numerical values of the factor of the joint intelligence ("factor g"). Researchers took into account the sex of each chimpanzees, its related relations, the environment in which he grew up (in the wild or in captivity) and even the specific "culture" of his relatives. It turns out, that genes are responsible for 52.2 percent instability factor g.
Most of all heredity has a great influence on the spatial and communication skills. Apparently, the reason for this is that these abilities relevant to the search for food and joint problem solving, what depends the survival of the monkey team. This conjecture was proposed by our Creator studies William Hopkins (William Hopkins), employee of the national Primate research centre behalf of jerks (Atlanta, GA).
Hopkins intends to repeat this study on a larger sample of chimpanzees, also add to the Arsenal of personal methods of computer tomography of the brain, to see how the inherited mental abilities linked to specific parts of the brain. Biologist hopes his research can help to find genes for intelligence, and in the human genome. Probably, scientists learn which genes changed in the course of evolution, have given the man unprecedented in the world of animal intelligence.
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